Service tray



July 7, 1964 F. A. WENZEL 3,140,035

SERVICE TRAY Filed April l, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 7, 1964 F. A.wENzEL 3,140,035

SERVICE TRAY Y Filed April l, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States PatentO 3,140,035 SERVICE TRAY Frederick A. Wenzel, Milwaukee, Wis., assignerto St. Regis Paper Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New YorkFiled Apr. 1, 1963, Ser. No. 269,520 2 Claims. (Cl. 229-30) Thisinvention relates to improvements in service trays of types adapted tobe used for carrying food and beverages.

More particularly the invention concerns improvements in the generaltypes of service trays such for example as are disclosed in my U.S.Patent No. 3,001,684. Such trays provide a central compartment ofgenerally rectangular form and adapted to receive items such assandwiches or other food, whereas at the ends of the tray, pluralitiesof apertures are provided for receiving beverage containers or the like.Such trays are formed with elongated side walls and a bottom wall, andalso with transverse partitions which deline the sandwich compartmentand separate same from the areas for receiving the beverage containers.The trays are designed to be sold in collapsed condition and when sameare about to be put into use, same are designed so that such transversepartitions may be swung downwardly from the plane of the top of the trayto positions between the side walls thereof and there become locked toprovide means which will hold the tray firmly in set-up condition readyfor use.

Since such trays are often used in dispensing food and beverages fromestablishments such as roadside stands, it is highly important that samebe quite inexpensive because of competitive conditions and inasmuch assuch trays are generally discarded after a single instance of use.

The present invention involves improvements in the form of the blank ofpaperboard or other sheet material which is to form the tray and such aswill allord a considerable saving in the area of material required,particularly as regards the features involving the locking of thetransverse partitions when the tray is set up for use. That is, inaccordance with the invention, these features are so provided that usemay be made of material which is out out in forming certain of theapertures for the beverage containers in lieu of using extension Happortions for that purpose of the form shown in the abovementionedpatent.

The above-mentioned transverse partitions in accordance with theinvention may be very quickly swung downwardly to their lockingpositions and so that they extend diagonally downwardly and outwardly ofthe sandwich compartment, whereby such compartment will be in a formhaving a wider area at the bottom and better adapted to retain the fooditems or material therein and at the same time affording added strengthto the set-up assembly.

Various further and more specic objects, features and advantages of theinvention will appear from the description given below, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way ofexample a preferred form of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a tray embodying the invention in itspreferred form;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional View taken substantially along line 2 2of FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially along line 3-3of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing various details of theconstruction; and

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a die-cut blank for forming the tray as shownin FIG. 1.

Referring now to the drawings in further detail, the

tray as shown in FIG, l, comprises a top area 10, having a centralopening, preferably rectangular, to provide for a compartment 11, inwhich items such as sandwiches or other food may be deposited throughsuch opening to rest upon bottom portions as at 12 and 13 of the tray,which is provided with side walls 14 and 15. The top area of the tray isalso formed with apertures as at 16, 17, 16' and 17 providing forcavities for receiving beverage containers.

The sides of the sandwich compartment are defined by transverse wallportions as at 18, 19, which are cut from the top area of the traybutare still connected thereto along hinge lines as at 20, 21, formed bycutting part way through the paperboard or other sheet material of whichthe tray is made and so that, upon setting up the tray from a collapsedcondition to the position shown in FIG. l, these partitions 18 and 19may be swung downwardly and outwardly about said hinge lines to thepositions best shown in FIG. 2. Here it will be noted that thesetransverse partitions have been swung past a vertical plane toover-center positions so that they are inclined downwardly andoutwardly, thus providing, as shown, a compartment which is wider at thebottom than at the top. Thus also inwardlydirected ridges as at 23, 24are provided at the top, which are ellective in preventing dislodgmentof items of food or food material from the compartment. Y

In order to provide means for locking the tranverse partitions 13 and 19at the positions shown in FIG. 2, portions of the sheet material may bestruck from the areas of the beverage container apertures, for exampleapertures 17 and 17, to provide vertically-extending stays as at 25 and26, which are connected to the top areaV of the tray along hinge linesas at 27, 28. When the tray is in set-up condition, these stays extendvertically downwardly as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, and the lower edgesthereof are formed with footing portions as at 30 which are adhered toone of the tray bottom portions 12 along the area where the bottomportions 12 and 13 are adhered together in overlapped relation informing the bottom of the tray. The bottom portion 13 may be cut away atareas corresponding to the footings 30 (see FIG. 4) so that the lattermay be adhered directly to the bottom portion 12, thus permitting thetray to be shipped in compact ilattened condition without an eXtra layerof the sheet material at the footings 30 which would be required if thelapped portion Vof the bottom area 13 were not thus cut away.

Each of the stay areas 25, 26 at the ends thereof which are adjacentthev 'transverse partitions 18 and 19 respectively, may be formed withprotruding portions as at 32, 33, whichare adapted to be received inslits as at 34 formed at the mid-portions of the partitions 18 and 19.Thus when the portions 32 and 33 are engaged by the slits of thepartitions 18 and 19, the parts will come into an electively lockedrelationship, thereby securely retaining the tray in its set-upcondition against collapse.

As best shown in FIG. l, the top surface 10 of the tray preferably hasportions as at 36, 37 which extend horizontally along the sides of thesandwich or food opening 11, thereby lending considerable rigidity andstrength to the side walls at the mid-portions of the tray. At the sametime, by cutting the transverse partitions 18 and 19 so that they willbe of a length making possible the remaining strips 36, 37, the resultwill be that the ends of the transverse partitions are spaced somewhatfrom the side walls of the tray, thereby more readily permitting thesepartitions to be swung down to their locking positions, while the trayis still being set up from its collapsed condition and without bindingor jamming of the parts at the ends of the partitions.

The die-cut blank of paperboard or other sheet material from which thetray may be made, is shown in FIG. 5, with its various parts designatedby the same reference characters as in FIGS. 14.A It will be understoodthat in shaping the tray, this blank is folded along score lines as at40, 41 which separate the top surface from the side walls and alongscore lines as at 42, 43 which separate the side walls from the bottomwall portions 12 and 13, these score lines being preferably formed bycutting the paperboard part way through. Then the upper edge 44 of theblank as shown in FIG. 5, is adhered in overlapping relation to thelower edge 45, here shown, to complete the bottom of the tray.Pluralities of the trays may be shipped in collapsed at condition withthe various portions collapsed for example about the score lines 41 and42.

As contrasted with the form of blank shown in FIG. 5, the correspondingblank used for making the tray in the above-mentioned patent, isprovided with extension flaps which would extend for example aconsiderable distance above the top edge, such as at 44, of the blankshown in FIG. 5, such extension aps serving in lieu of the stay portions25, 26 of the present invention, to provide means for the lockingengagement with the slits in the transverse partitions 18, 19. Bycutting the stays 25, 26, from the beverage-container apertures inaccordance with the present invention, however, a saving amounting tonearly ten percent in the required area of sheet material may be made,and at the same time a more advantageous locating of the transversepartitions is made possible, as above explained.

Although a certain particular embodiment of the invention is hereindisclosed for purposes of explanation, further modifications thereof,after study of this specification, will be apparent to those skilled inthe art to which the invention pertains. Reference should accordingly behad to the appended claims in determining the scope of the invention.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A collapsible service tray comprised of an area of sheet materialshaped to provide to top surface, side walls and bottom wall portionsconnected thereto along score lines, whereby the tray may be collapsedto substantially attened condition or erected to operative conditionwith the top surface spaced from the bottom wall portions, said topsurface having a generally rectangular opening at its midportion tothere provide a compartment for receiving food items, and each of theend portions respectively of the top surface being formed with at leastone opening for receiving a beverage container, partitions extendingtransversely of the side walls of the tray and each being struck fromthe rectangular opening but connected by score lines to the top surfacewhereby when the tray is collapsed such partitions may be located in theplane of lthe top surface and when the tray is erected, same may beswung downwardly about the latter score lines and thence somewhatoutwardly of the food compartment whereby the compartment is wider atthe bottom than at the top, and, at the top, ridges are provided at thelatter score lines directed inwardly of the compartment, stay portionscomprising material struck from one of said beverage container openingsat each end of the tray and extending from score lines at the topsurface generally vertically downward when the tray is erected and inplanes transverse to said partitions, the lower ends of said stays beingadhered to the bottom portions of the tray, said partitions each beingslotted to engage said stays in substantial locking relation when thetray is erected, such locking relationship being effective to retain thetray in erected condition.

2. A collapsible service tray comprised of an area of sheet materialshaped to provide a top surface, side walls and bottom wall portionsconnected thereto along score lines, whereby the tray may be collapsedto substantially flattened condition or erected to operative conditionwith the top surface spaced from the bottom wall portions, said topsurface having a generally rectangular opening at its midportion tothere provide a compartment for receiving food items, portions of saidtop surface along the sides thereof extending along the sides of saidopening for lending rigidity to the side walls at the mid-portion of thetray, and each of the end portions respectively of the top surface beingformed with at least one opening for receiving a beverage container,partitions extending transversely of the side walls of the tray and eachbeing struck from the rectangular opening but connected by score linesto the top surface whereby when the tray is collapsed such partitionsmay be located in the plane of the top surface and when the tray iserected, same may be swung downwardly about the latter score lines andthence somewhat outwardly of the food compartment whereby thecornpartment is wider at the bottom than at the top, and, at the top,ridges are provided at the latter score lines direced inwardly of thecompartment, stay portions comprising material struck from one of saidbeverage container openings at each end of the tray and extending fromscore lines at the top surface generally vertically downward when thetray is erected and in planes transverse to said partitions, the lowerends of said stays being secured to the bottom portions of the tray,said partitions each being slotted to engage said stays in substantiallocking relation when the tray is erected, such locking relationshipbeing effective to retain the tray in erected condition.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,640,589 Foster et al. June 2, 1953 3,005,584 Coe Oct. 24, 19613,009,623 Wenzel Nov. 21, 1961 3,100,595 Curtiss et al. Aug. 13, 1963

1. A COLLAPSIBLE SERVICE TRAY COMPRISED OF AN AREA OF SHEET MATERIALSHAPED TO PROVIDE TO TOP SURFACE, SIDE WALLS AND BOTTOM WALL PORTIONSCONNECTED THERETO ALONG SCORE LINES, WHEREBY THE TRAY MAY BE COLLAPSEDTO SUBSTANTIALLY FLATTENED CONDITION OR ERECTED TO OPERATIVE CONDITIONWITH THE TOP SURFACE SPACED FROM THE BOTTOM WALL PORTIONS, SAID TOPSURFACE HAVING A GENERALLY RECTANGULAR OPENING AT ITS MIDPORTION TOTHERE PROVIDE A COMPARTMENT FOR RECEIVING FOOD ITEMS, AND EACH OF THEEND PORTIONS RESPECTIVELY OF THE TOP SURFACE BEING FORMED WITH AT LEASTONE OPENING FOR RECEIVING A BEVERAGE CONTAINER, PARTITIONS EXTENDINGTRANSVERSELY OF THE SIDE WALLS OF THE TRAY AND EACH BEING STRUCK FROMTHE RECTANGULAR OPENING BUT CONNECTED BY SCORE LINES TO THE TOP SURFACEWHEREBY WHEN THE TRAY IS COLLAPSED SUCH PARTITIONS MAY BE LOCATED IN THEPLANE OF THE TOP SURFACE AND WHEN THE TRAY IS ERECTED, SAME MAY BE SWUNGDOWNWARDLY ABOUT THE LATTER SCORE LINES AND THENCE SOMEWHAT OUTWARDLY OFTHE FOOD COMPARTMENT WHEREBY THE COMPARTMENT IS WIDER AT THE BOTTOM THANAT THE TOP, AND, AT THE TOP, RIDGES ARE PROVIDED AT THE LATTER SCORELINES DIRECTED INWARDLY OF THE COMPARTMENT, STAY PORTIONS COMPRISINGMATERIAL STRUCK FROM ONE OF SAID BEVERAGE CONTAINER OPENINGS AT EACH ENDOF THE TRAY AND EXTENDING FROM SCORE LINES AT THE TOP SURFACE GENERALLYVERTICALLY DOWNWARD WHEN THE TRAY IS ERECTED AND IN PLANES TRANSVERSE TOSAID PARTITIONS, THE LOWER ENDS OF SAID STAYS BEING ADHERED TO THEBOTTOM PORTIONS OF THE TRAY, SAID PARTITIONS EACH BEING SLOTTED TOENGAGE SAID STAYS IN SUBSTANTIAL LOCKING RELATION WHEN THE TRAY ISERECTED, SUCH LOCKING RELATIONSHIP BEING EFFECTIVE TO RETAIN THE TRAY INERECTED CONDITION.